


A Parrot and His Young Man

by misura



Category: Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:23:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27577807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: How Derek became the royal cobbler.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2020





	A Parrot and His Young Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shadow_Logic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Logic/gifts).



Derek sighed, staring at the shoe in his hand as if he'd never seen it before.

The truth, of course, was the opposite: he _had_ seen it before. Six times at least, and with any luck, he'd see it at least a dozen more times before the end of the month.

" 'Oh, boo hoo, woe is me, everyone wants to buy my shoes all of a sudden,' " Felix said, making a round through the small room Derek called 'home' before landing on his shoulder. "Cheer up, will you? Smile! Buy me a bag of peanuts to celebrate! Two bags, and keep some for yourself!"

Derek sighed again, forcing himself to resume work. Felix was right, he told himself. He'd sold a pair of dancing shoes to a Baroness, and now, everyone in town wanted shoes like hers.

 _Exactly_ like hers.

"You're a success! You keep this up, you might one day own an actual shop! With a window display!"

Derek grimaced. He _liked_ travelling, seeing other parts of the kingdom. Not being tied to the same place, waiting for people to come to _him_ , instead of the other way around.

A shop meant prosperity, yes, but it also meant losing his freedom. It meant keeping opening hours, and no longer taking off whenever he felt like it.

"Not a fan of window displays?" Felix asked. "Fine, fine, you can get a shop with just a sign! You're right, why would you need a window display anyway?"

"I want to make new shoes," Derek said. He enjoyed fixing old ones, bringing happiness to people by taking their old, worn-out shoes and returning them as good as new, for a lot less money than it would have cost them to buy an actual new pair of shoes, but his favorite thing to do was making shoes. New shoes. Shoes nobody had ever seen or worn before.

"What amazing luck you decided to become a cobbler," said Felix, picking at one of his feathers.

" _New_ shoes," Derek said. "Not shoes that are the same as everyone else's. Not shoes I already made yesterday."

"Different size, different shoes?" Felix tried.

"If only there was someone who _didn't_ want their shoes to be like everyone else's," Derek said. "Someone who wanted me to make shoes just for them. Someone - "

Felix clucked. "Newsflash, dreamboy, most people only buy shoes like, what, two times every year? Three times? You can't live on selling someone a pair of shoes only twice a year. And if you can't, I can't either. I need to eat, and sadly, these feathers are purely decorative. I don't want to starve simply because you prefer dreams over reality."

"I'd find you a new owner before that happened. I hear one of the princesses loves animals very much. Maybe, instead of a kitten or puppy, she'd like an insolent parrot."

"Insolent, am I?" Felix tsk'ed. "Insolent indeed. What would you do without me, I would not like to find out, because I'm pretty sure that it would be a disaster."

Derek sighed for the third time. "Look, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but it's no good. If I have to choose between being a success and getting to do something I enjoy, I'm sorry, but I choose the second. I'll fill this last order, but then the next customer who wants these shoes is going to have to find someone else to make them."

"That is a terrible business decision," Felix said. "Think of the people who depend on you!"

"You and Daisy?" Derek asked.

"What, parrots aren't people now? If you prick us, do we not bleed? Don't actually test that. I have a terribly low pain threshold. And yes, Daisy. Why not? He seems nice! Very bright, for a horse! Good conversationalist, provided you don't mind a bit of a neigh-sayer."

"Pretty sure Daisy's a she," Derek said.

"Well, what's the difference? You'll do as you want, and the rest of us is just going to have to deal with it, aren't we? Is this what I left my home for?"

"Do you _want_ me to sell you? Because I can. I'd miss you, of course, but if it's what you want ... "

Felix gasped. "I do not! How can you even ask me such a question? Have I not been your loyal companion for many years? Besides, I hear ostriches are going to be the hot new thing this Spring. Parrots are very out."

"I was just thinking, you could live with a princess, in a real palace. Peanuts every day."

"Bah," Felix said. "There are things in this life far more important than peanuts."

"Yes, there are." Derek stared at the half-finished shoes again. "Too bad these aren't among them."

"Princesses!" Felix squawked. "That's it! Let's see, there are twelve of them, times three - well, say four, because they are princesses after all, and then - yes, that might just do, provided you keep doing shoe repairs in between."

"What are you squawking about?" Derek asked, starting to attach the ribbons.

"You should sell your shoes to the royal palace. I mean, a princess isn't going to be ordering the same shoes as a mere Baroness, is she? And if I know anything about sisters, which I do not, having been an only egg, but ignoring that for the moment, I bet you each of them wants something different."

"Huh," Derek said.

"Go on, you can tell me I'm a genius now. I'll wait."

"But - I'm just a cobbler. I can't talk to a princess! What should I say?"

" 'Hello, my name is Derek, and I'm a cobbler who makes beautiful shoes, would you like to buy some?' "

Derek shook his head. "I don't know, Felix."

"Bah. You can talk to a baroness, you can talk to a princess."

"That was just her maid."

"Fine. You can talk to a baroness's maid, you can talk to a princess. Happy now?"

Derek finished with the ribbons. "I'll have to think about it for a while."

_two days later_

" - and her feet! Did you see her feet? The way she smiled! The sound of her voice!"

"Oh dear," Felix said.


End file.
